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The Seneca Cliff as an Effect of Bureaucracy

September 27, 2017

The Seneca Cliff as an Effect of Bureaucracy The idea of the “Seneca Cliff” is that a certain entity, from a company to an empire, tends to fall rapidly when it is subjected to a dearth of resources and, at the same time, affected by pollution. More than once I noted that there are many […]

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We’ll always have the Sun: solar energy and the future of humankind

September 24, 2017

We’ll always have the Sun: solar energy and the future of humankind Above, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) speaks to Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) in the movie “Casablanca” (1942). Here, the sentence has been a little changed. In the film, the phrase refers to “Paris”, not “The Sun”. But in the debate on the future of civilization, […]

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The Way Nature Works: How Common is the Seneca Curve? Ugo Bardi’s Speech at the Summer Academy of the Club of Rome in Florence

September 16, 2017

The Way Nature Works: How Common is the Seneca Curve? Ugo Bardi’s Speech at the Summer Academy of the Club of Rome in Florence Ugo Bardi at the Summer Academy of the Club of Rome in Florence, September 2017. My talk at the Summer Academy of the Club of Rome was mainly a presentation of my […]

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A depressed man with a smiling face: Jorgen Randers speaks at the Summer School of the Club of Rome in Florence

September 13, 2017

A depressed man with a smiling face: Jorgen Randers speaks at the Summer School of the Club of Rome in Florence This is not a picture taken at the summer school, but it is Jorgen Randers, the real one! Jorgen Randers’ speech at the Summer School at the Club of Rome has been dramatically different […]

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What fuels civil war? Energy and the rise of Fascism

August 24, 2017

What fuels civil war? Energy and the rise of Fascism Italian Blackshirts in the early 1920s. There is a Fascist song from those times that says (translated), “Fascists and Communists were playing cards. The Fascists won with the ace of clubs.” But the clubs used by the Fascists were only a marginal elements in a […]

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Which EROI do we need to collect berries?

August 16, 2017

Which EROI do we need to collect berries? My wife, Grazia, collecting berries in the woods of Tuscany in a hot day of August. Maybe her ancestors were doing exactly the same, more or less in the same place, hundreds or thousands of years ago. Here, I present some reflections and some calculations showing that […]

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Charlie Hall speaks about EROI (and many other things)

Charlie Hall speaks about EROI (and many other things) A talk given by professor Charlie Hall in Princeton, last year. More than one hour of presentation to show how rich and interesting is the field of biophysical economics. And here is a comment submitted by Bepi Cima Waiting for a more affordable digital version of Charles […]

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Another Example of a Seneca Cliff

October 16, 2016

Another Example of a Seneca Cliff The results of a Google Trend search for “Friendster”, an old social network. It is a nearly perfect “Seneca Shape.” Ruin is rapid, indeed! “Friendster” was a social network that, in many ways, pre-dated Facebook. Friendster collapsed rapidly, starting in around 2009, providing us with an impressive example of […]

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When did you discover that there is something badly wrong with democracy?

October 1, 2016

When did you discover that there is something badly wrong with democracy? For me, it was in 2009. I had been invited to speak at a meeting called “The Festival of Energy;” a thinly disguised public relation stunt for the fossil fuel lobby, designed to show that renewable energy is a cute thing and that, […]

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The Sower’s way: the path for the future

September 17, 2016

The Sower’s way: the path for the future Our paper on “The Sower’s Way” has been published in the IOP Environmental Research Letters journal. It is an attempt to quantify the physical limits of the energy transition from fossils to renewables. The title of the article takes inspiration from a strategy well known to ancient farmers, […]

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Peak oil by any other name is still peak oil

September 10, 2016

Peak oil by any other name is still peak oil One of the most compelling charts I have ever seen is the “Growing Gap” chart that used to appear in every ASPO Newsletter. This is the one from the last ASPO Newsletter, written by Colin Campbell and published in April 2009. Since then, more than seven years have passed, […]

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Some reflections on the Twilight of the Oil Age (Part II)

Some reflections on the Twilight of the Oil Age (Part II) (Part I here) Part 2 – Enquiring into the appropriateness of the question Let’s acknowledge it, the situation we are in, as depicted summarily in Part 1, is complex. As many commentators like to state, there is still plenty of oil, coal, and gas left “in the […]

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The end of the “population problem”? Another Seneca cliff in our future

The end of the “population problem”? Another Seneca cliff in our future Image from “National Geographic” If the demographic projections by the United Nations will turn out to be true, the world population should reach over 11 billion people by 2100. Some think that it will be a disaster, others see it as a good thing as it […]

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Demand destruction and peak oil

Demand destruction and peak oil Roger Baker is a transportation and energy reform advocate based in Austin, Texas. Long time member of ASPO, we actually met at one of the first ASPO conferences, the one held in Pisa, in 2006. Here he discusses the current situation with crude oil and the global economy. We are fully under […]

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The real EROI of photovoltaic systems: professor Hall weighs in.

The real EROI of photovoltaic systems: professor Hall weighs in. The EROI of our various energy options, and its associated issues, may be the most important issues that will face future civilizations. The present discussion tends to vacillate between people who accept (or advocate) very high EROIs for solar vs people who accept (or advocate) […]

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